Election Commissioner Sagun Shumsher Rana has said that all preparations have reached the final stage to make the election of members of the House of Representatives fair, free and fearless. He also informed that special surveillance arrangements have been made to prevent possible manipulation during the silence period.

In an interview given to RSS, Commissioner Rana said that the silence period is a time for tired candidates to rest and remain calm after campaigning, and for voters to think carefully and make a decision on the selection of candidates independently. He also appealed not to do anything against the election code of conduct during that time.

'The commission is aware of the possibility that political parties and candidates influence voters against the election code of conduct during the silence period. Special surveillance arrangements have been made by mobilizing district monitoring officers and security agencies to prevent illegal activities,' he said.

He said that about 342,000 security personnel have been mobilized and ballot papers have been delivered to all constituencies. He said that polling officers have been trained and the work of preparing polling stations is in the final stage.

He said that effective coordination is being done with the government to make the election fair and impartial. He informed that an election security seminar has been held at the provincial level under the chairmanship of the Home Minister and necessary preparations have been made by analyzing the security challenges.

Stating that the campaigning has reached a high point, Rana urged political parties and candidates to fully comply with the code of conduct. He said that the misuse of social media and AI is the main challenge at present. He said that the commission has made arrangements to remove content that violates the code of conduct in coordination with social media platforms, cyber bureau and security agencies.

He said that the silence period starting from the evening of Falgun 18 should be considered as a time when voters can make independent decisions. 'Special monitoring arrangements have been made by mobilizing district monitoring officers and security agencies to prevent illegal activities during this period,' he said.

Stating that voter education has been extended to the local level this time, he said that the aim is to reduce invalid votes. He suggested that voters should pay attention to clearly affixing the swastika only inside the election symbol room and folding the ballot paper correctly.

Under the voting management, one polling station has been arranged for every 1,000 voters, and priority will be given to the elderly, disabled, pregnant and sick, the commission has said.

Rana said that this time, the manpower has been increased to avoid a repeat of the complaints about the delay in the vote counting in the past and efforts have been made to make the process faster and more effective. However, he clarified that the vote counting will be done in a manual system.